When collaborating on a project, it is often difficult to point others to the right place in a text, or to weed out irrelevant information. For example, consider the use of instant messaging (IM) applications as conference tools to discuss issues and share ideas or information. A large number of participants in an IM conference is not uncommon, the conference time can be lengthy, and many topics may be covered. As a consequence, IM transcripts often are lengthy. Since they are flat files that just simply log the conversations from beginning to end, lengthy transcripts cause the following difficulties for users. It becomes difficult to keep track of the conversation, or just the part that is relevant to a particular user. Full text search is an conventional option, but navigation after finding text can be difficult. It is often difficult to point others to the right place in a conversation. Users of conventional IM applications may look back at the previous transcript line by line, then cut and paste pertinent information into the IM window so other people know what they are referring to. This cut-and-paste approach diverts users' attention, and increases transcript volume, which makes it even harder to read and find information later on.
Thus there is a need for systems and methods that hide certain parts of a text (such as IM transcripts) to facilitate communication and organization.